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Denver Nuggets hire Brian Shaw as head coach

C Brian Shaw, right, has learned from some of the best, including 11-time NBA champ Phil Jackson. More photos. (Associated Press file)

Brian Shaw, a coaching disciple of Phil Jackson known for player development, is the new coach of the Nuggets, given the task of leading a young team on a playoff run as the replacement for the coach of the year who wasn't able to do so.

After firing George Karl, the Nuggets soon after zeroed in on Shaw, an Indiana Pacers assistant. On Monday they hired the longtime NBA player and assistant coach who had interviewed for several head coaching jobs in recent years.

"I can't express my appreciation enough," the 47-year-old Shaw told The Denver Post by phone. "It's been a grind, to say the least, but I'm just very appreciative of the opportunity to lead this team. ... It's been years, 11 or 12 interviews I've gone through. And I've felt I've been prepared by the best of the best.

Brian Shaw has plenty of NBA championship experience as a player and an assistant coach. More photos. (Stephen Dunn, Getty Images)

"You know, everything that's worth something, a lot of times you have to wait for it. I feel like I've waited and paid my dues. I feel honored and privileged that (Nuggets executives) Josh (Kroenke) and Tim (Connelly) have put faith in me that I'm the guy they want to grow with going forward."

The Nuggets have called a 2 p.m. news conference Tuesday to introduce Shaw, a first-time head coach who will work with a first-time general manager, Connelly, who was hired this month after Masai Ujiri left for the Toronto Raptors.

As a player for Jackson's championship Lakers and then later as an assistant, Shaw helped run and coach the triangle offense, which is known throughout the league as a half-court set that needs skilled big men to make it work well.

"Although I played in the triangle and coached the triangle, I also played in a lot of systems, so that's not something I'm looking to bring to the Nuggets and try to implement," Shaw said. "I'm going to look at a lot of film of things the team did well, running was one of them. And I'll continue to build on things they did well and get more of a feel for the personnel and what I think will be conducive to everybody's ability."

Photos: Nuggets

Shaw inherits a team that entered last season as the third-youngest in the NBA and finished third in the Western Conference. But the Nuggets lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season since being forced to trade all-star Carmelo Anthony. That playoff loss, and an inability to agree on the philosophical direction of the franchise, led to Karl's firing.

Shaw, an Oakland, Calif., native who played in the NBA from 1988-2003, was considered a hot commodity this offseason, interviewing for jobs with the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers, the latter a job he might have gotten if not for Doc Rivers. The Boston Celtics coach took the Clippers job Sunday after a prolonged negotiation between the two franchises.

That gave Denver the chance to lock down Shaw, whose main competition for the job was former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins. The Nuggets also interviewed fired Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown.

Soon after The Denver Post broke the news of Shaw's hiring late Monday afternoon, he began receiving congratulatory tweets, including one from the Pacers' Paul George: "Congrats to B Shaw! No one deserves it more. Learned so much from him!"

Shaw spent the past two seasons coaching under Frank Vogel in Indiana, where the Pacers showed that a team can win in a smaller market without a superstar. Indiana advanced to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, where it lost to the eventual champion Miami Heat. George became an all-star with Shaw's help, averaging 19.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists this past season.

(Click to enlarge)

Shaw has a fascinating résumé. He was teammates with players from Larry Bird and Allen Iverson to Shaquille O'Neal and Latrell Sprewell. Shaw has been a part of five NBA championship teams with the Lakers, three as a player.

And despite his noted accomplishments, he failed to land a head coaching job though being up for nearly a dozen jobs over the past few years.

Pacers team president Donnie Walsh said his time has come.

"Brian is a great choice for Denver, and it's an ideal match for him and the team," Walsh told The Post's Woody Paige last weekend. "He's capable of being one of the best head coaches in the league. ... It'll be tough to follow George (Karl), but Brian can handle it, and people in Denver will love him."

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